TURA: After hectic campaigns and vigorous appeals to the people by concerned parties, polling for the prestigious Ampati constituency will take place on Monday to decide the fate of the three candidates who are contesting the seat.
There are a total of 28,699 voters from the constituency whose votes will seal the fate of the candidates.
Adequate security arrangements have already been made and four companies of central paramilitary forces are on duty to ensure free and fair poll.
The by-poll to the constituency was necessitated after former chief minister, Mukul Sangma won both Ampati and Songsak in the February 27 Assembly elections, and later vacated Ampati to take over the reins in Songsak.
The election in Ampati will be a triangular contest between the Congress candidate Miani D Shira (Mukul Sangma’s daughter), National People’s Party (NPP)’s Clement G Momin and lone independent candidate, Subhankar Koch.
While the NPP is banking on the ‘ruling party factor’ to win over the people, Ampati has been known as the stronghold of the Congress under former chief Minister, Mukul Sangma who won the seat for the sixth consecutive time before vacating it for Songsak.
However, the decision to field his own daughter, Miani, who is a ‘greenhorn’ by Mukul, is also likely to affect the prospects of the Congress party as some sections of the people had expressed resentment over the move. According to them, a better candidate from among party leaders, who is far more experienced, could have been chosen to contest the seat.
The NPP on the other hand is confident that the people of Ampati will vote in their favour as they feel that the Congress in Garo Hills under Mukul is on its last legs. Fueled by the recent victory in Williamnagar in which party candidate, Marcuise Marak defeated the then sitting MLA, Deborah C Marak by a huge margin, the NPP is of the view that the same will happen in Ampati.
Whatever will be the outcome, the poll battle is likely to be between Congress candidate Miani and NPP’s Clement.
The lone independent candidate, Subhankar Koch is likely to draw some votes from both parties. However, that is unlikely to have any significant impact on the results.
The chief electoral officer Frederick Kharkongor informed that while 21 polling parties reached their respective polling station on Saturday, the remaining 18 have also arrived on Sunday.
“All 39 polling parties have reached their polling stations and are poll ready. Polling will take place from 7 am to 5 pm tomorrow,” he said.
